Research

Regulatory role of E-NTPase/E-NTPDase in Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺ transport via gated channel

Hans M Schreiber¹ and Subburaj Kannan^1,2

¹  Division of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

²  Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, PO Box 25056, University of Texas Medical Branch, 300 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77550 USA

author email corresponding author email

Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling 2004, 1:3doi:10.1186/1742-4682-1-3

Published:	12 August 2004

Abstract

Background

E-NTPase/E-NTPDase is activated by millimolar concentrations of Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ with a pH optimum of 7.5 for the hydrolysis of extracellular NTP and NDP. It has been generally accepted that E-NTPase/E-NTPDase plays regulatory role in purinergic signalling, but other functions may yet be discovered.

Results

In this article it is proposed on the basis of published data that E-NTPase/E-NTPDase could play a role in the influx and efflux of Ca²⁺and Mg²⁺ in vivo.

Conclusions

Attenuation of extracellular Ca2+ influx by rat cardiac sarcoplasmic anti-E-NTPase antibodies and oligomerization studies on mammalian CD39 conclusively point towards the existence of a new channel in the membrane. Further studies on these properties of the E-NTPase/E-NTPDase may provide detailed mechanisms and identify the potential patho-physiological significance.